


To Heal a Broken Soul

by Reykenobi68



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Ben Solo Lives, Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Devoted Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, F/M, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Redeemed Ben Solo, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-18 11:08:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29367555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reykenobi68/pseuds/Reykenobi68
Summary: Ben survives the fallout of Exegol, but his connection to the physical world is in danger. Rey tends to him as she searched for a way to heal him.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo
Comments: 3
Kudos: 21
Collections: To Find Your Kiss: The Reylo Fanfiction Anthology's Valentine's Day Exchange





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cat2000](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cat2000/gifts).



“Ben!” She smiled up at him. He had come for her, had stood with her, had saved her. She kissed him passionately, she had missed him her entire life now they were... 

Something was wrong. He smiled and it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen but then he fell back and she could feel him fading away. 

“No! No! Please!!!” She gripped his shirt as tears streamed down her face. His essence began to fall away, but then she saw two hands of light on either side of his head and she felt him coming back. She looked up and saw her. “Leia.” Her voice broke and the older woman looked at her with such compassion. “Thank you, for bringing him back to the light.” She caressed Rey’s face and then her force ghost was gone. 

Ben gasped as he was once again tethered to this plane of existence. He sat up slowed and looked around disoriented. He looked behind him “Mother…” He whispered before turning back to the other half of his soul. He grasped her face in his hand and touched his forehead to her’s. 

“Rey...I thought...I gave you the last of my life force.” 

“I know you did, dummy.” they both chuckled awkwardly. Ben collapsed forward, too weak to hold himself up. Rey supported his massive frame and moved to stand. “Let's get out of here.” That was the last thing Ben heard before he passed out. 

  
  


Ben awoke in a makeshift hospital with a med-droid fussing over him. In the distance he heard Rey’s voice, she was arguing with someone. 

“Rey, what were you thinking? He cannot be here!” He recognized that voice...the pilot. 

Another hushed voice 

“This is Kylo Ren we’re talking about!!” FN2187...the traitor. 

“No. Kylo Ren is dead.” Rey’s voice was steady and strong “This is Ben Solo…Leia’s son.” Her voice was heavy with emotion as she mentioned his mother’s name. He smiled at how fiercely she defended him, he didn’t deserve it, not after everything he had done. He had killed his father and though he didn’t pull the trigger, he knew he had aged his mother with his words and deeds. His mother...she had been there at the end. She had tethered him back to reality when he had given the last of his life for Rey. He was so tired… the world around him faded once more. 

When he woke again, Rey was sitting beside him. She was stroking his hand lightly and pressing a cold compress to his fevered brow. When she saw his eyes flutter open and her face lit up. “How are you feeling?” 

“You’re here.” He smiled weakly “How could I be anything but wonderful.” 

Her nose crinkled up adorably as she smiled. She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. Her hands rested lightly on his chest, but when she pulled away she looked concerned. “Your physical injuries are healing but you still have a fever and the medics don’t know why and…” She took a deep breath “your life force still feels weak. I can feel it.” 

He furrowed his brow, which took most of the energy he had “ I know I feel it too, my connection to this plane of existence is still in danger of breaking” 

“I’ve been searching the Jedi texts for an answer. The injuries you sustained go deeper than the flesh, but I promise…” She pressed her forehead to his, as he did on Exegol “I will find a way to heal you.” 

“I shouldn’t be here. I can feel how uneasy I make the others.” He felt it every time someone passed by the hospital tent. Hatred. Fear. All directed at him. “I heard you talking with the pilot and FN2187” 

“Their names are Poe and Finn.” She corrected and looked away avoiding the rest of the statement. 

“Honestly I'm surprised they didn’t kill me on sight.” He muttered, “Or put me on trial.” 

Rey turned back to him, “They just don’t understand.” She gently caressed his hair “but they will.” She nodded reassuringly “Give it time.” 

He chuckled darkly, so optimistic, his Rey, but he knew, the others would never forgive him and it would have been better for her if he had disappeared. 

He groaned as a sudden pain gripped him. 

“Ben!” She felt him fading again She reached for his hands and began to flow some of her life into him “Stay with me, Ben!” 

His eyes rolled back in his head and he shook. 

A medic ran into the room “What happened?!” 

“I don’t know!” Rey shrieked. She kept her hold on him. “Please Ben...please be with me…” 

Finally, he stopped convulsing and laid back on the bed, his vitals stable. 

The medic looked over the data and then looked at Rey. “I don’t understand. His leg is still mending from the break...and he has considerable swelling...but nothing...nothing that explains seizures or his fever.” 

“It isn’t physical.” Rey watched as his face scrunched and his eyes fluttered; she smiled to herself “He’s dreaming.” 

The medic looked at Rey incredulously “Force stuff?” 

Rey snorted “Yeah...Force stuff.” 

The medic continued to sift through data that the med-droids had gathered “He has several deep injuries that never healed right...scar tissue everywhere... I've never seen anything like this. With the medical care, he should have had access to…” 

Rey felt anger rise in her. Snoke had tortured him and then hadn’t even had the decency to allow him to heal. She had endured such torture once. Ben must've been subjected to it countless times. 

“Tomorrow we’re leaving. I need to take him to a place with a strong connection to the Force to figure out how to help him.” She spoke, to the medic but mostly to herself. 

The medic gave her a worried look and left the room but Rey didn’t notice, she was completely focused on the wounded man before her. “You’ll be okay. I promise.”

Rey walked toward the hanger and found Chewie working on the Falcon. She called a greeting up to him and he called back a greeting in Shyriiwook. _“Hello, Sunshine!”_

“Chewie I need to speak with you!” He grumbled and made his way down off the Falcon. Ever since her return from Exegol with Ben, he had been avoiding her. 

“I need the Falcon. I need to take Ben to Ach-To.” 

Chewie balked _“does it have to be the Falcon?”_

“Yes. He needs to face his demons, of that much I’m sure.” She hesitated before adding “Han would have wanted it.” 

Chewie let out a mournful cry but acquiesced _“Alright. I will get the Falcon ready.”_

“Thank you.” 

Chewie gave her a classic almost backbreaking hug _“Be careful, Sunshine.”_

She nodded “not to worry.” She smiled reassuringly 

_“You really think he’s different now. That he is like little Ben?”_ Chewbacca remembers playing with a young dark-haired boy. Playing hide and seek (not that the Wookie could hide), teaching him to fly, showing him how to use a bowcaster...just like the one he had shot him with. 

  
  


“You should come to see for yourself.” Rey laid a gentle hand on his arm before turning to go back to the med bay. It was time for them to go. 


	2. Chapter 2

This time when Ben opened his eyes he gasped in pain and surprise. He pulled back the sheets and looked around his old room on the Falcon. On the nightstand was a small toy X-Wing that his father had given him. He picked it up and choked back a sob. Rey was there instantly, holding him... had she been there the entire time? 

“It’s okay, Ben. I’m here.” 

He held her tight and sobbed into her shoulder until he felt like an empty shell. She felt cold...he felt like he was on fire. The room spun. She laid him back on the bed “You’re burning up…” She took a container of water and pressed it to his lips “Drink.” She commanded softly. He sipped the cool water as she watched him and wiped his tears away reverently. “I’m taking you to the first Jedi Temple.” She stroked his sweat-soaked hair out of his face and pressed a cool cloth to his brow. “We’ll find the answer there...I know it.” Her voice shook and he wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince him or herself. 

He nodded and leaned into her touch “I love you…” he wanted to keep looking at her, but his eyes felt so heavy. 

“I love you too, Ben.” She kept stroking his hair “rest. I’ll be here when you wake.” 

He nodded “Alright…” he slurred as his heavy eyelids closed of their own volition. 

  
  


The sound of an animal chirping incessantly woke him next. He opened his eyes and groaned and was greeted by a tiny creature with big eyes staring at him “Ahh!” he yelled in surprise and jolted up and the small creature screamed back at him before waddling off. 

His head pounded from moving so quickly. “Ben?” Rey entered the hut holding a plate of what looked like charred fish. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you woke.” She set the fish down and the mouth-watering smoky smell filled the room. “I know you’ve been having trouble keeping down the rations.” 

Her voice was trembling. She was trying to appear cheery and brave, but she was terrified. 

She held a piece of fish out to him “Eat.” 

He took small bites of the fish as she gently cajoled him to keep eating. She cooed softly as she fed him by hand. She held cold water to his lips and he drank thirstily. 

He felt her relief through their bond. He hadn’t been able to keep much of anything down on the journey here and his fever had spiked to a dangerous level, but since arriving on Ach-To he seemed to be doing a little better. 

“I want to take you to the Jedi Temple today. There are answers there. I can feel it.” 

Ben nodded and his vision swam “How are we going to get there?” 

She stroked his hair “Let me worry about that.” She kissed his fevered brow before offering him more fish. When he had eaten and drank as much as he could manage she helped him lay back and stayed with him until he fell asleep. He would need his strength for this journey. 

When Ben woke next he felt like he was flying. The clouds in the sky moved above him. “Rey…” 

He was placed gently on the ground and Rey sat beside him huffing trying to catch her breath. She was sweating and looked exhausted 

“Did you...Force levitate me up the mountain?” 

She nodded “Yes. Since you are awake do you want to try walking inside?” 

He grunted an affirmation and she helped him to his feet. They supported each other as they went inside and she laid him in the center of the temple. 

She knelt beside him and reached out. She felt the light all around her and then they were surrounded… 

Luke. Leia. Anakin. They knelt around Ben. His mother reached out and touched his head once more, just as she had on Exegol. His uncle and grandfather placed their hands on his heart. Ben whimpered and cried out as they poured love and understanding into him. 

“Forgive yourself, Ben.” 

Rey held his hand. He was drenched. His fever was breaking. 

Luke looked at Rey “He’ll be okay. He’s still going to need some care, but I know he is in good hands” he smiled at her and then was gone. 

Leia caressed Rey’s face gently “Thank you, Rey. For saving my son. She kissed Rey’s temple then did the same to Ben before fading. 

Finally, Anakin was standing over them. “You remind me of Padme.” He said solemnly. “May you both find the happiness that I lost.” 

Then they were alone. 

Ben sat up. His eyes were bright and Rey felt that he was firmly connected to life and her. 

They embraced each other. Two that were one. Finally together.


End file.
